"I don't know if this is such a great idea, Jade." Cat hesitated as they approached the large, dark building ahead. Despite being surrounded by the happy lights and sounds of the rest of the amusement park, the Haunted Manor ride sent a chill down Cat's spine.

Jade stopped and turned around, reaching out to the redhead who had fallen behind.

"Come on, it will be fun."

Cat still looked uncertain, but reached out and took Jade's hand, quickening her pace to stay close to the brunette. Her brown eyes remained wide as they got in line, scanning the building and jumping at every pre-recorded noise that came pouring out of the boarded-up windows. She was too busy nervously counting the people in front of them to notice Jade's amused smirk. Jade tried to distract the smaller girl by talking about what other rides they would do after this, and after a few minutes, Cat relaxed enough to release her vice grip on Jade's hand so she could point excitedly towards the ferris wheel. She had moved on to animatedly express her love of the merry-go-round when she realized they were almost at the front of the line and it was almost their turn to climb into a cart. Her hands froze in mid-air and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. It took all Jade had not to laugh out loud at the look of terror on the girl's face and how suddenly it had come on.

Jade's smile quickly disappeared when she saw a ride attendant covered with fake blood head towards them with a wicked grin on his face. Before she could warn Cat, the boy grabbed the redhead's wrist and growled loudly in her ear. Cat screamed and jumped back, her eyes immediately filling with tears. Before she could blink them away, Jade was standing between her and the zombie and he was no longer holding her arm. Jade stood practically nose-to-nose with the boy and held his wrist up next to his face. She dug her nails into his arm and hissed through gritted teeth, "If you ever touch her again, it will be the last thing you do."

The smile faded quickly from his face as he wrenched himself out of her grip. He mumbled something Jade didn't catch before stepping back and motioning towards the cart that just pulled up. Cat looked almost as pale as the arm she clung to as Jade led her to the empty cart. Jade gently peeled the smaller girl off her, but never let go of her hand, and climbed down into the seat. Cat quickly followed and sat practically in Jade's lap.

Cat let out a small, involuntary shriek when the cart jerked forward, and Jade gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. As they glided along the tracks, Jade rolled her eyes at the lame plastic ghosts and the cardboard cemeteries they passed. She scoffed audibly when she saw the conspicuously placed fog machine sticking out from between two twisted trees. She turned to point it out to Cat, when she noticed the girl next to her had her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She nudged her with her shoulder, "Cat, you can open your eyes. It's not scary." Cat shook her head quickly. "It's just a bunch of Halloween props, Cat. Nothing to be afraid of." Cat opened her eyes slowly, starting to relax as she took note of a hanging skeleton that looked like the one in the science lab at school. She was about to admit to Jade that maybe it wasn't so bad when a coffin flew open and a vampire lurched towards the cart, cackling loudly. Cat screamed and turned into Jade, burying her face in her shoulder. Jade took a moment to appreciate the feeling of Cat's body pressed against hers before reaching out and rubbing the scared girl's back.

"Hey, it's okay." Jade said, but Cat only whimpered in reply. This time Jade put her hand on Cat's shoulder and gently tried to pry her back into the sitting position. She resisted, so Jade pressed a kiss onto the top of her head. "Look at me."

Cat slowly lifted her head, but kept her eyes down. Jade put her hand under Cat's chin and gently guided it up, making eye contact.

"Cat, I'm right here. Nothing is going to hurt you. Not a punk kid in zombie makeup, not a plastic vampire, nothing. Got it?"

Cat heard the sincerity in Jade's voice and saw the passion in her ice-blue eyes. Jade saw Cat visibly relax as her lips broke into a smile. "Got it." Cat leaned in and pressed her lips against Jade's. She pulled away and saw Jade give her one of her rare, genuine smiles. She smiled back and leaned in again, kissing Jade more passionately this time. Jade kissed her back and pulled Cat closer to her.

They pulled back when light washed over them and their cart jolted to a stop. The girls instinctively shaded their eyes at the sudden lack of darkness and saw the zombie ride attendant staring at them with his jaw dropped. Cat giggled and bounced out of the cart, Jade close behind. Jade threw the boy a menacing look as they walked by and he quickly closed his mouth and busied himself with the next customer in line. "You were right, Jade, that ride was fun!" The redhead winked. "Let's go on another one!" Cat grabbed Jade's hand and started tugging her in the direction of the ferris wheel and Jade couldn't help but smile.


Thanks for reading! I wrote this story for xrocksx, though neither of us can remember when or why she asked me to write a Cade story. She is the queen of Cade fics though, so go check out her stuff. :)